Hang on for a minute...we're trying to find some more stories you might like.

Email This Story

Send email to this addressEnter Your NameAdd a comment hereVerification

Does anyone else remember the midnight premiere? The excitement of waiting until the earliest possible moment to see a long-awaited movie in a packed theater with other people just as dedicated as you. Now, you might get a somewhat full room with a considerable amount of empty seats.

Premiers have lost their luster in the past few years. Movie companies in an attempt to cash in on younger audiences have completely destroyed the idea of a new movie coming out. With most teenagers or children going to school, a midnight premier consists almost completely of adults or students who didn’t really care if they were exhausted the next day. One of the primary reasons the times were moved up was to accommodate this audience, and in turn, gain a higher box office rating.

Midnight showings used to be a test of what you could withstand. It filtered out casual viewers and left the room full of diehard fans who were just as enthusiastic as you were.

Some of the interest in a midnight viewing is the reactions of all the people around you. In the most recent Marvel movie “Avengers: Infinity War,” some people were screaming and crying at the events in the film. This might seem like an annoyance, but it actually helps you get lost in the events of the film when you can react and you know other people are feeling the same thing with you. Sometimes it’s nice to just sit in a room with complete strangers and know that you could all nerd out about a film’s universe.

I remember having to book tickets in advance when I wanted to see a big film, but now I don’t have to worry about out it. When I first saw “Star Wars: the Last Jedi” in theaters, I got into a seven o’clock showing along with about seven other friends, and we got to sit in seats next to each other.

Another issue is that they have release dates in all the promotional and commercial advertisements, but they might as well be suggestions rather than definite times. Why not just advertise the date as one day before, or just release it on the date that’s advertised and save people the confusion.

Movie premieres have started to become more and more dull. Greed has started to take over the idea of a new film release. Overall, it ruins film releases. It’s harder to get excited about watching a when the community is taken out of it. The packed rooms and stressful ticket purchases were all part of a new movie, but now it’s just part of an increasingly capitalist business.

Related Stories

Sam joined the Flightline in January of 2017. He is a senior this year, involved in choir, theater and cross country. Outside of school, he sings to himself and sits in his basement. You can email him at [email protected]